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Overall we are impressed with what the TP-Link AV500 powerline network adapter kitt (TL-PA4020PKIT) brings to the table. While it does not seem to offer as good performance up close as a high-end wireless router, it excels when it comes to long range performance. It also offers some interesting additional features such as the power socket pass through and twin Ethernet jacks.
The excellent long range performance of the kit makes it ideal for those people who are looking to fill wireless dead spots, especially for those devices which require high bandwidth. At short range, though, a high end wireless router offers better performance.
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the AV500 powerline network kit is the easy of setup. Despite featuring pairing buttons on each of the adapters, we didn't have to use these in practice. In fact, we simply had to connect up the cables and plug in the adapters.
At a price of £47 from Overclockers UK, the TP-Link AV500 is quite pricey for a powerline network kit. However, it boasts an impressive feature set and specification which will justify this price for those who are looking for high bandwidth or twin Ethernet ports.
Pros
- Easy set up.
- Twin Ethernet jacks.
- Power socket pass through.
- Decent long range performance.
Cons
- High price.
- Only offers performance advantages at long range.
KitGuru says: A decent product from TP-Link which offers an impressive feature set and decent performance.
I have these, and they are pretty good for the money expenditure. The one downside I would comment on is they are stuck on 100Mbps Ethernet connections, when I was expecting 500Mbps. What you end up with is UP TO 500Mbps per second behind the socket depending on your house wiring.
My results differ to those of KitGuru though, as I can reliably get just shy of 100Mbps anywhere in the house. I have a feeling that this may be due to the house I rent only just being re-wired. The longest and weakest connection I can get knocks me down to 88Mbps, which is pretty good considering I get no wireless router signal at all in that part.
My biggest complaint is the area I currently live can offer up to 150Mbps broadband, meaning that now my current connection can no longer take full advantage of downloading files. With faster and faster broadband speeds, I feel like if this technology can not even equip 1Gbps Ethernet ports then it is going to quickly fall behind wireless routers using bridges to expand the signal.
Due to the router I am using, the wireless signal can be flakey on occasion and this is pretty useless if internet gaming, so this is a wonderful substitute to using the wireless. However I am currently looking into one of two upgrades to phase this out after only having it for 6 months for the sole purpose of taking full advantage of the larger internet connection I have here.
Also have a pair of these and my consensus is simple. You could use these for the ease of setup, or get to areas where radio signal dont seem to get; If thats your goal, this is a superb product.
If you use these for getting a higher performance, well, … you are going to have a bad time in most situations.
What i found with the ether-line kit I had, was that not only the performance was not that great when you went over breaker groups. But the ping was not at all stable. for example ping was around 25ms then it could go 400ms or over a second later and back to 25ms again after. And also turning appliances like tv’s, computers or something could effect the performance for a shot time. So its a great product for checking mail or browse the web but gaming is not recommended (nothing beats the wire! Ok fibre does ;))